Good, inexpensive soldering iron?

[Danny Crawdad]

I need to do some more repairs to my leftside controls, I think I do have a busted solder point. Need to pull it off this weekend when I'm not riding it and look at it. I used to have several soldering irons, all of them cheap, but I have no idea where they are now. I need to buy another one, one that's decent but under $50 . Does anything like that exist? Any recommendations?

[GARTHXS]

I just picked up one at oreillys. It was like 20 bucks and came with sodder and flux

[GLoweVA]

If you're doing those left hand lighting controls, you may want a solder gun vice an iron. I tried using an iron and It couldn't get hot enough to work, so I went to harbor frieght and got a gun. (wasn't too much - around $20)
the iron just wouldn't melt the existing solder very good whereas the gun did it in short order. Just try not to get it too hot, those plastic pieces that hold all those solder points can start to melt.
Maybe having a second person to help hold stuff might be helpful (or at least some type of clamp/clip to help)

[jetmechmarty]

I would go buy a cheap 10 watt soldering iron at Radio Shack and give that a try. It should provide enough heat without doing any damage.

[CatatonicBug]

I never have much luck with the guns. They end up dying on me. I got my soldering iron from Radio Shack, and used it on my left controls just fine. If you have trouble with the initial melting, try adding a drop of freshly melted new solder. It will break the tension and get things melting better. This one is probably the newer equivalent to what I actually got, and is only $10. If you want to ramp it up a bit, for $52, there is this one.

[GLoweVA]

Maybe that was my issue, was that I had a crappy iron, and was so fustrated that I went for the BFG (Big Freaking Gun), sure it might have been too much and maybe that's why I started to melt things, but I ended up getting it done and I only broke my left mirror in the process. (Maybe I should have taken the whole switch off the bike to do the repairs)

[crazy steve]

Here you go....

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-D550PK-.../dp/B00002N7S1

I got one of these years ago (mid 60s, to build slot cars) and still have it. Still works great too. I've replaced a few tips over the years, but that's it! Unlike the 'pencils', there's no heating element to burn out. They do have a 'duty cycle', but that's never been a problem.

A bit big for electronics work, but perfect for electrical. Those small-wattage pencil irons don't always put enough heat in quickly enough to get a good solder joint. I've got a couple of those, but rarely use them.

[b.walker5]

Personally I prefer gas irons. I've had one of these for years and never had any issues. I do a lot of work on roof tops where plug in power isnt always available, and these are just the ticket for that.

http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brand...c=037103146571

A little pricey perhaps but then I'm not sure Good, and Inexpensive belong in the same sentence anyway.

[jimbyjimb]

I have guns and irons, but I really love my bernz-o-matic soldering iron tip cause it heats up super hot super fast, though having an open flame around my XS doesn't seem so appealing...

The mini-torch comes with a soldering tip. Runs on butane too. Good for roadtrips since you can use it to light up a stogie 'round the campfire!

http://www.bernzomatic.com/products/...i-torches.aspx

[Danny Crawdad]

You know, I had a portable butane soldering iron years ago that worked incredibly well... maybe I'll give that a try.

[jimbyjimb]

The Bernzie's are great too because they're real torches with multiple uses, not just specific to soldering or whatnot. I adjust the flame on mine to the lowest setting because it seems that above halfway on flame power will choke it out with the soldering tip on. I have the bigger of the two torches shown in the link I posted. The small one looks pretty cool though! Very packable for road repairs/stogie lighting!

[CatatonicBug]

My boss uses a butane soldering iron all the time. Great for mobile applications if you don't always take the work to a bench. Heck, for $10 at Home Depot, I might just get one myself!

[81xsproject]

Here you go....

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-D550PK-.../dp/B00002N7S1

I got one of these years ago....

I bought one of these brand new and it quit on me with in a couple weeks for no reason at all. I imagine they used to be a much better product. I bought a Que digital solder station for $50. It is very high quality. I absolutely love it.

[crazy steve]

One thing you need to check on these is making sure the tip 'retaining nuts' are tight. If they get even a little bit loose they won't heat up, leading you to think the gun has failed.

[barrelguy]

"mid 60s, to build slot cars"

WOW! Haven't heard about slot cars for decades! Used to be a place in Vancouver where you could rent time on about a dozen different tracks to play with your toys. I think I had about 3 or 4 cars. Thanks for the nostalgia bump.